wish fulfillment
Americannoun
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gratification of desires.
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Psychoanalysis. the drive to free oneself from tension caused by instinctual needs, as sex.
Etymology
Origin of wish fulfillment
First recorded in 1905–10
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I wouldn’t say anyone’s asking for this, but we want to do some little wish fulfillment, or just live in a world where you can pretend that this is happening.
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026
What would summer on the beach be without chocolate and marshmallows between graham crackers—or without angst and wish fulfillment between book covers?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
“And if you can’t have the wish fulfillment in movies, where are you going to get it?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
In a world where the powerful increasingly act with impunity, taking fictional villains to task makes sense, a form of Hollywood wish fulfillment for those who feel stuck or hopeless.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2025
It had not been a nightmare, a wish fulfillment of escape.
From A Woman's Place by Mark Clifton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
